The plasmasphere, or inner magnetosphere is a region of the Earth's magnetosphere consisting of low energy (cool) plasma. A magnetosphere' is a highly magnetized region around and possessed by an Astronomical object. A magnetosphere' is a highly magnetized region around and possessed by an Astronomical object. In Physics and Chemistry, plasma is an Ionized Gas, in which a certain proportion of Electrons are free rather than being bound It is located above the ionosphere. The ionosphere is the uppermost part of the atmosphere, distinguished because it is Ionized by solar radiation The outer boundary of the plasmasphere is known as the plasmapause, which is defined by an order of magnitude drop in plasma density.

The plasmasphere was discovered in 1963 by Don Carpenter from the analysis of VLF whistler wave data. A Whistler is a Very low frequency electromagnetic (radio wave generated by Lightning.

Traditionally, the plasmasphere has been regarded as a well behaved cold plasma with particle motion dominated entirely by the geomagnetic field and hence corotating with the Earth. Earth 's magnetic field (and the surface magnetic field) is approximately a Magnetic dipole, with one pole near the North pole (see In contrast, recent satellite observations have shown that density irregularities such as plumes or biteouts may form. This article is about artificial satellites For natural satellites also known as moons see Natural satellite. It has also been shown that the plasmasphere does not always co-rotate with the Earth.

See also

External links

• NASA web site
• University of Michigan description
• University of Alabama in Huntsville research
• Southwest Research Institute description
• IMAGE Extreme Ultraviolet Imager
• EUV Images of the plasmasphere

References

• Carpenter, D. L. , Whistler evidence of a 'knee' in the magnetospheric ionization density profile, J. Geophys. Res. , 68, 1675-1682, 1963.
• Nishida, A. , Formation of plasmapause, or magnetospheric plasma knee, by combined action of magnetospheric convections and plasma escape from the tail, J. Geophys. Res. , 71, 5669, 1966.
• Sandel, B. R. , et al. , Extreme ultraviolet imager observations of the structure and dynamics of the plasmasphere, Space Sci. Rev. , 109, 25, 2003.

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